Saturday, August 24, 2019

Conversin' With The Blues ~~ Dr. Schlank Brings the Blues Therapy

I've known Dr. Anita Schlank for a few years. If you've ever been to a blues show anywhere in the vicinity of Richmond, Virginia, you've probably seen her on the front row taking great pictures and video. Some of the best pictures on this blog have been taken by her. She's now the main author behind an outstanding new book, Blues Therapy, that describes what several blues artists experience on a daily basis.

Despite her busy work and concert schedule, Dr. Schlank was kind enough to take some time out and join me in the studios of VPM-Music for a discussion about the book and the blues.

John Porter:: Welcome to another edition
of Conversin’ with the Blues. I am delighted to have today’s guest
because you know, a lot of people in the blues have great nicknames -- they
call themselves doctor this or doctor that, or even somebody who calls himself
the Professor. Well, for the first time I have an actual doctor here --
Dr. Anita Schlank. She is a
psychologist. That makes her a Ph.D.
doctor—she can’t give you any meds, but she has written an amazing book called Blues
Therapy. Dr. Schlank, thank you very much for coming in today.

Anita Schlank, Ph.D.: Thanks for having me.

Porter: Let’s talk a little bit about Blues Therapy.
I can describe a bit about it, but I’d like you to describe in more depth.
You have held conversations with a number of blues artists talking about the mental
struggles that each one faced, some similar some dissimilar, and the way that
they have used music to transcend whatever mental ills they have. Is that
a correct assumption?

Schlank: That’s correct. There are
three sections to the book. I wrote the first section from a
psychologist’s perspective, trying to dispel myths about mental illness and
explain a little bit about different mental illnesses and about the therapeutic
effects of music on the brain. The second section is written by Tab
Benoit, who discusses those issues from the perspective of a musician.The longest section is just what you
mentioned—it contains interviews with blues musicians who suffer from mental
illness, talking about that experience and talking about the beneficial effects
of music in their life.

Porter: Can you illustrate some of the different terms because a
layman might not necessarily know the splitting hairs between this condition
and that condition. Starting with, what is schizophrenia?

Schlank: Schizophrenia is a disorder in
which people lose touch with reality. They might experience hallucinations,
such as seeing things that aren’t there or hearing voices that aren’t
there. Or, they might become delusional, believing things to be true,
such as becoming very overly suspicious, thinking people are out to hurt them.

Porter: What about bipolar disorder?

Schlank: With bipolar disorder people
experience extreme shifts in mood from being very depressed to feeling what we
call manic, which is having excessive energy, decreased need for sleep, maybe
having some grandiose ideas. Some even have some psychotic experiences
when they are manic.

Porter: Major Depressive Disorder—that seems to pop up quite a bit
in the book.

Schlank: Someone with Major Depressive
Disorder can experience sleep disturbance, tearfulness, and they can have
suicidal thoughts. It’s more than just feeling sad about a
situation.It can come on even when
people have things going well in their life.

Porter: Suicidal thoughts? I think everyone has some from
time to time, but this seems to be more pervasive. At what point should
someone start to become worried about someone who voices such a thought?

Schlank: It never hurts to ask people
about those thoughts. I know people might worry that it will put the idea
in their head, but it really doesn’t hurt to ask about that. If the
person isn’t really suicidal, they will tell you, and it can be very helpful to
talk about the thoughts.Is it just a
fleeting thought, or is it a preoccupation? Are they thinking a lot about
it, and how they will do it, and how to not hurt family and friends by doing
it.That’s when it can be very
concerning.

Porter: Now you are a professional. Can someone without this
type of training actually do somebody some good who is having those thoughts?

Schlank: Absolutely. I think it’s
helpful for people to know that you understand and that you’re not shocked by
that idea and it’s ok to talk about these things. That’s part of what we
are doing with the book.We’re showing
that more people can talk about this.It’s not something we have to keep secret.

Porter: That’s a great segue then into the reason you wrote this
book and the people who volunteered their innermost thoughts. I need to
give each of them a standing ovation for doing that because it’s very frank.What was your initial reason for writing the
book?

Schlank: The main reason was to try to lessen
the stigma associated with mental illness and to try to get people to talk
about it more. Maybe more people will seek help when they need it.I was really affected by the suicides of some
famous people, and I was wishing that maybe they had felt freer to talk about
it. I also definitely wanted to raise money for the HART fund.That
was a secondary purpose for writing it.

Porter: What is the HART Fund?

Schlank: The HART fund is part of the
Blues Foundation that pays for medical, dental, and burial expenses, including
mental health expenses which blues musicians often can’t afford to pay.
And many of them don’t have health insurance so the HART fund can be very
helpful.

Porter: I imagine if you have been making your living most of your
life going club to club playing your heart out for an audience, there is
probably not a good pension plan attached to that.

Schlank: No, there is not.

Porter: So it’s good that someone is looking out for that. I
know that Doc Pomas at one time started a program for paying back songwriters
who had been ignored for years, and he actually got a lot of money for a lot of
musicians. Big Joe Turner once asked him, “Why am I getting a check from
someone called the Blues Brothers?”So,
I certainly appreciate that.Now the
HART Fund is on the Blues Foundation website, right?

Schlank: Yes, it stands for Handy Artist
Relief Trust.

Porter: That’s very cool. Who were some of the actual people
interviewed for the book?

Porter: Wow!That is an all-star
lineup and each person was able to talk about the struggles that they
had. I know Janiva has done so on her own blog and she actually brings it
up from time to time at her concerts. She and I have talked some about
that.How did you get the other people
to open up, like Phil Pemberton and “Monster” Mike?

Schlank: You know Monster Mike had
actually been open with his struggles with depression on Facebook, so I knew
that he had that already. I originally started out with only about six
people in mind.But the more that I
talked to my friends it seemed like people would say they wanted to be
involved. For example, I was talking about it to Nick Moss and he said,
“well, I have panic disorder, I’ll give you an interview.”And that kept happening.So for many of them it happened that way

Porter: I know when I grew up people did not discuss, not even
amongst their family, issues like this and l and I think it really messed
people up over the years. I am glad to see people coming forward with
these stories.Let me ask you, what did
you learn from this experience?You are
a professional, you are a doctor and doing this on a daily basis, but not this
side. You don’t usually work with creative people. What did you learn?

Schlank: One thing I learned was just how
prevalent it is. You know, having so many people that I didn’t know had
disorders say, “let me give you an interview”. That was something. I also
learned that people working in the entertainment field are six times more
likely than others to experience suicidal thoughts. That’s very
concerning given that they are less likely to have pension plans and health insurance
that cover treatment.I also learned
that listening to music can help people with Alzheimer’s Disease decrease their
anxiety and that people who listen to music before and during surgery need
fewer sedatives. Some of that was very interesting to me.

Porter: Do you have thoughts about why that might be?

Schlank: Well, listening to music does
cause chemical reactions in the brain, such as less cortisol (the stress
hormone) and increased dopamine, which is sometimes thought of as the “feel
good” neurotransmitter. It also increases endorphins, which are sometimes
called the body’s natural opiates.

Porter: Is it only the blues that has this effect or could it be
jazz or country or polka?

Schlank: it’s definitely not just blues.
The research on it is for any kind of music. But many people find the
blues to be a very emotional genre. And I think there might be a bit more of a
cathartic effect with the blues. You know, listening to the sad tones and
listening to the lyrics.Some people
think that listening to a good blues singer is a little bit like listening to a
therapist, where they work out problems through the lyrics and when you hear
their experience you have that feeling that they have been there too and you
are not alone.

Porter: Non-blues fans seem to have a misconception that the blues is
all about the horrible things. They don’t realize it is the music you
play when you have those horrible things going on, to get out of them. There
is a small but dedicated group of people who are great blues aficionados.
If you had to put together a playlist for non-blues fans, who are artists that
they might want to listen to so that they would be able to get some of that
experience? I know I’m putting you on the spot with this one, but I think
you can come up with a few names.

Schlank: Well, of course, there is Muddy
Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin’ Wolf, for some of the older ones, and for more
current artists I would, of course, recommend listening to any of the artists
that contributed to this book.

Porter: You can always check out the Time For The Blues’playlist and you’ll find a wide variety of
those. We always like to play a bit of uplifting blues.You’ve gotten some attention from various
places, which I am delighted to see, because you published the book yourself so
it’s not like it is making someone else richer, it all goes right into the HART
Fund. What are the plans for a possible sequel?

Schlank: I have certainly been thinking
about a sequel. I have also been thinking about the possibility of a
documentary. You know, some people say they don’t read.

Porter: I think we have elected some of those people.

Schlank: (laughs) Well some people
just don’t like to read, so maybe a documentary would broaden the reach of the
message.

Porter: Wow that would be fantastic. You’re actually thinking
of going into somebody’s therapy session?

Schlank: No, I really wasn’t thinking
that. I was just thinking about filming some of the interviews and going
over some of the research.

Porter: I would love to see that. Hey, before I forget, how
can people get a copy of your book? I mean, from reading this, I’m sure
they’re going to want to buy five or six copies.

Schlank: Twenty dollars. And all that goes
to the HART Fund. That’s why I went with self-publishing to make sure
that we could give everything to the HART Fund.

Porter: So, every nickel goes to help somebody in the blues
world. Someone whose music you have loved.Well, Anita, I’ve have had a wonderful time
talking with you. Anything else you would like to leave us with?

Schlank: No, just thank you for the
opportunity to talk about this project. I appreciate it.

Porter: Dr. Anita Schlank has been sitting in with us
tonight. The name of the book is Blues Therapy. www.bluestherapybook.com
is where you can pick up your copy. I highly recommend it.I have two copies.I have one and I gave one to my psychiatrist.
Yes, I am in therapy and I’m proud of it. And thank you, Anita, for
helping me get there.